this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2023
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[–] [email protected] 67 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Man, learn something about someone before you go worshipping them.

X was bought by paypal, but was far from "integral." It was just its largest competitor for Confinidy at the time because Musk was washing it in money he made from a previous venture.Paypal was the more popular money transfer software, and it's the platform the new company formed around, even taking its name.

Musk was a actually briefly the CEO of PayPal, but his decisions were so poor that he was forced out.. He still retained enough shares of paypal to hit it big time, which is when he poured all that money into a long shot bet called Tesla, which he used goverment funds and seed capitol from his rich friends to keep alive until it turned an actual profit a decade later. With SpaceX, he leaned into fanboys like you calling him Tony stark, and managed to hire Gwynne Shotwell, a goddamn aeronautics powerhouse, as CEO the same year it was founded. She has brought SpaceX to success, by all accounts in spite of him. Its rumored that SpaceX keeps people around just to sideline Musk. That how disruptive he is to actual work. SpaceX was also utterly dependent on goverment subsides for most its existence, just like Tesla.

Dude grew up with emerald mine money, then just kept taking outlandish risks because he had an emerald mine to keep his ass housed and fed, and yeah, eventually hit it big, with a big heaping of help from our tax dollars and mega rich pals. Big surprise.

Turns out that if you have a wealthy life secured, you too can gamble big and make even more money. Thats how capitalism is designed to work. Capital makes more capital.

The fact that you're suckered in by the worlds luckiest gambler playing a game that had no actual stakes for him is sad as fuck man. Be proud of someone who overcame actual adversity. Go find a hero that wants to help people, not to rule them.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I'll have to do some more research on Elon then.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Don't forget blatant market manipulation. Pump&dumps on Bitcoin, doge coin, TWTR, and TSLA...

[–] [email protected] -2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I still don't get the emerald mine money bit. Even snopes ran on it that the perpetuated story is bogus, with properly cited sources on where the whole comment originated from.

I think Musk is a grifter, but let's stick to facts instead of hearsay.

Edit: for those asking:

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/11/17/elon-musk-emerald-mine/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Could you link that source? I can’t find it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

here it is. The whole thing seems rather murky and somewhat shady too. The most specific statement on it is this:

Arnold's story included answers from Errol about the mine, who said he had "very limited involvement" in it. Arnold paraphrased his answers, publishing that he said "it was a handshake deal with a Panamanian man that resulted in something like 110 emeralds up front and then a semi-regular trickle of rough stones over a few years following," and that "there was never formal ownership."

The wealth earned from the investment in the mine was quantified to be about $400,000 USD, taking into account inflation when Arnold's piece was written in 2021, according to Errol. "Errol also quoted a lower number to me over the phone," Arnold wrote. "He also claims he was getting emeralds from other sources, with only 60-70% coming from this venture."

So maybe not a whole emerald mine, but like an unofficial small stake in an emerald mine? Still, 400k ain't bad at all for a handshake deal.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Yeah, I don’t buy it. Rich people lie and hide their money all the time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Honestly it sounds to me like there’s an effort to keep his father’s involvement in emeralds a secret.